Hot weather and cold beer. Ah, that combination helped to fill the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center with people and suds for the fourth annual Brew Bern Beer Fest on Saturday.

Nearly 2,000 people came out to the event to taste their choice of 179 different craft beers brewed by 65 breweries from across the country and, according to Scott Andrews of festival sponsor Beer Army brewery, “this year the world.”

Breweries from Germany and the United Kingdom were represented at an event that Andrews, a New Bern native, and Beer Army think will continue to grow.

“There were representatives from those countries and the 12 micro breweries in North Carolina, including our own,” Andrews said.

“We put a lot of hard work and sweat in our beers and we’re not able to reach everybody like the big label beers,” he said. “This shows everybody what their options are, and we are able to help create a craft beer culture that really has roots in North Carolina. Asheville is the No. 1 city in the entire country for the most micro breweries per capita.”

The growing culture is apparent with this year’s Beer Fest crowd, which was 10 percent larger than last year, Andrews said.

They were loud, happy and well-behaved, and Andrews said, “I haven’t seen a frown and I haven’t had to kick anyone out.”

Even with the convention center packed to capacity with suds sippers, there was nothing but fun.

This year, participants toasted the new Brew Army brewery in Trenton, which opened in December in a 10,500-square-foot building in the Jones County Industrial Park. Andrews said Beer Army expects to brew 1,700 barrels of beer this year, more than originally predicted for production after five years in operation.

Beer Army head brewer Jeff Brungard is retired from the Marine Corps and finished school at the Siebel Institute of Technology and World Brewing Academy in Chicago. He and assistant brewer Matt John produce the beers sold at the company’s James City retail store, Beer Army Outpost.

Andrews said bottled beers from all of the microbreweries participating in the festival will be available there so that those who tasted something new they liked can taste it again.

Another ex-Marine, Dustin Canestorp, owns the company, and Sebastian Gianino is operations chief of the company that prides itself on giving back to the Marines and the community through its Vigilant Guardian Foundation.

Andrews said Beer Army’s next festival will be in Greenville in January.

Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-o5665 or sue.book@newbernsj.com. Follow her on Twitter@SueJBook.